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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />WATER QUALITY <br /> <br />Salton Sea Re.port <br /> <br />The U,S, Bureau of Reclamation and the Salton Sea Authority (SSA) have jointly released for <br />public review and comment the Draft Environmentallmpact Statement/EnvironmentalImpact Report <br />(EISIEIR) for the Salton Sea Restoration Project Both Reclamation and the SSA, acting as lead agency <br />for NEP A and CEQA respectively, are requesting the public comment on several proposed alternatives <br />designed to maintain and restore the ecological and economical values at the Salton Sea, The comment <br />period will conclude on April 26, 2000, <br /> <br />Alternatives include methods to control salinity, improve recreation facilities, manage the fish <br />population, provide additional water, develop wetland habitat, and study the many outstanding <br />questions that remaIn concerning the issues and appropriate management of the Salton Sea, Proposed <br />actions are divided into two phases: the first phase is intended to maintain and restore the wildlife and <br />recreation values of the Sea for 30 years or more; and the second phase, programmatically addresses <br />potential inflow reductions to the Sea and provides continued protection of the wildlife and recreation <br />values for up to 100 years, This draft EISIEIR has been forwarded to Congress along with a Strategic <br />Science Plan and a Reclamation Report on the engineering viability of the alternatives proposed, <br /> <br />Atlas Corooration Uranium Mill Tailings <br /> <br />On January 14,2000, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced in Moab, Utah, a plan to <br />remove the 105 million ton pile of uranium mill tailings from the banks of the Colorado River. Two <br />hurdles still remain, however, to clear away the pile that was left from the Atlas Corporation's mining <br />activities before it went bankrupt Funding the multi-year project is estimated to cost $300 million and <br />authority over the clean up needs to be transferred from the U,S, Nuclear Energy Commission to the <br />Department of Energy, <br /> <br />Energy Secretary Richardson said that part of the funding would come from petroleum royalties <br />on 84,000 acres of land that would be transferred to the Ute Indian Tribe, Secretary Richardson said <br />that the parcel, which is part of the governments Naval Oil Shale Reserve No, 2, "may be a substantial <br />natural gas reserve," <br /> <br />There is no estimate of the extent of the royalties that would be available from the transferred <br />land or how large the federal appropriations would have to be, <br /> <br />,~~~-- <br /> <br />...-----uerald R, Zimmerman <br />Executive Director <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />s..rT-....---' <br /> <br />6 <br />